The last pictures of Lemmy: Motörhead frontman looks frail at his 70th birthday party – just days before he died of aggressive cancer

Motörhead founder and frontman Ian ‘Lemmy’ Kilmister has died aged 70

Veteran rocker was diagnosed with cancer just two days before his death

The British heavy metal band had been due to tour the UK this January

Tributes have been pouring in from figures within the music community

Rocker said he drank a bottle of Jack Daniels a day for ‘many years’

Wide eyes staring out above sunken cheeks, Motörhead frontman Lemmy looks a shadow of his hell-raising younger self in these two photographs taken just days before his death.

In one image, posted on Twitter by Sebastian Bach, frontman of heavy metal band Skid Row, Lemmy is seen propped against a bar in what appears to be a black military uniform.

A second picture, apparently taken that same night, shows the 70-year-old rocker with two young female fans. The women flash their smiles at the camera while Lemmy looks dutifully into the lens.

On Boxing Day, just 10 days after these images were shared online, Lemmy was told he had an aggressive form of cancer, though it is still not known what kind.

Forty-eight hours later the heavy metal icon died while sitting in front of his favourite poker video game at his Los Angeles home, surrounded by family.

Frail: Lemmy on December 16 in a photo posted by Sebastian Bach, frontman of heavy metal band Skid Row. The picture was captioned with Ace of Spades lyrics, ‘you win some, you lose some, it’s all the same to me’

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His death was announced in a statement on the Motörhead Facebook page, which remembered a ‘mighty, noble friend’ and called on fans to play his music loud and ‘have a drink or few’.

The news has sent shockwaves through the music industry, with Ozzy Osborne, Billy Idol and Brian May among those paying tribute to their friend.

Committing himself to music after watching the Beatles perform at Liverpool’s Cavern Club when he was a teenager, Lemmy’s life has become the stuff of industry legend.

He worked as a roadie for Jimi Hendrix and played bass in space rock band Hawkwind – before being kicked out for his drug use – before founding Motörhead in 1975.

Cementing his rock-and-roll credentials, he boasted about sleeping with more than 1,000 women and claimed he drank a bottle of Jack Daniels every day for years.

He also became known for his controversial collection of Third Reich memorabilia.

Ozzy Osbourne tweeted: ‘Lost one of my best friends, Lemmy, today. He will be sadly missed. He was a warrior and a legend. I will see you on the other side.’

Grammy award-winning band Motörhead, who released 23 studio albums over a 40-year period, announced Kilmister’s death on their official Facebook page.

Heavy metal band Metallica posted: ‘Lemmy, you are one of the primary reasons this band exists. We’re forever grateful for all of your inspiration. RIP’.

‘I WAS A ROADIE FOR JIMI HENDRIX … SO I’M HARD TO F***ING IMPRESS’: LEMMY IN HIS OWN WORDS

Motorhead frontman Lemmy will be remembered not only for his great music, but also for his many memorable quotes.

‘They would come on stage [The Beatles] and you were just awestruck. They had that presence, which is very rare. Hendrix had it, Ozzy Osbourne has it to an extent. You’ve either got it or you haven’t’ –

From an interview with The Independent.

‘I like being the centre of attention as much as anybody so I didn’t mind. I was in it for the girls, to tell the truth. I think if more musicians told the truth, that would be the reason why most of them are in it. When you’re young and you’re desperate to get laid, you work out that being a bricklayer isn’t that attractive.’

From an interview with The Independent.

‘There’s only two kinds of music I can’t stand: rap and opera. Opera because it’s too overblown and rap because I just don’t hear it. I just don’t get it’

From an interview with Rolling Stone online

‘I was a roadie for Jimi Hendrix for seven months, so I’m pretty hard to f*****g impress, man. You’d have to beat Jimi Hendrix to impress me and I don’t see anybody doing that’

When asked by Rolling Stone if he listened to younger bands during a 2012 interview

‘I don’t know any happily married couples, not even my parents. There was a magazine in England who said I screwed 2,000 women and I didn’t, I said 1,000. When you think about it, it isn’t that unreasonable. I’m not even married, and I’ve been doing this since I was 16. And I’m now 66, so that’s like 50 years. I could’ve done more if I’ve tried, I guess’

‘I got to hang with Lemmy.. Did a song and this video for a movie. LEGEND.’

Beverley Knight, who is starring as Grizabella in Cats the musical, said: ‘That wonderful gravelly voice now silenced.’

And author Neil Gaiman added: ‘RIP Lemmy, a man I saw playing the fruit machines in late night dives, and once thanked for getting me in to one.’

Figures from the world of wrestling, with which the band had a close affinity, posted messages of sorrow.

WWE star Triple H said: ‘RIPLemmy One life, lived your way, from the beginning, till the end See you down the road my friend … Thank you for the gift of your sound.’

Ex-WWE wrestler ‘Stone Cold’ Steve Austin, added: ‘Damn just heard Lemmy passed away. Swig of beer to one bad ass original rocker. Motorhead one of the all time influential bands.’

And Bubba Ray Dudley, also a WWE star, tweeted: ‘Who would win in a fight GOD or #Lemmy? Very sad. RIP brother. Glad to have met you and drink Jack n Cokes with you!!’

The news of Kilmister’s death in Los Angeles was originally broken by respected rock DJ Eddie Trunk via a series of posts on his Twitter account.

His post read: ‘Sorry to report that I have confirmed Lemmy @mymotorhead has passed away just now at the age of 70. RIP to a true original icon of rock.’

He followed it with: ‘Sadly this news is 100% confirmed and just happened. Let’s celebrate a true rock warrior and icon who gave us timeless music! #RIPLemmy’.

Reaction: Tributes to Kilmister have poured in from well-known artists and figures within the rock and metal community following his death on Monday. Here he is pictured playing in Helsinki earlier this month

Kilmister, who was born in Stoke-on-Trent on Christmas Eve 1945, founded Motorhead in 1975. The group later became one of the defining metal bands of the 1980s.

He wrote in his autobiography, White Line Fever, that he had been fired from his previous band Hawkwind for ‘doing the wrong drugs’.

His exit followed his arrest at the Canadian border for possessing cocaine and spent five days in prison, causing the band to cancel some of a US tour.

Famous for his hard-rocking lifestyle, Kilmister said he drank a bottle of Jack Daniels every day for many years, and also claimed to have slept with more than 1,000 women.

He said he had never married because the love of his life, a woman named Susan Bennett, had died of a heroin overdose aged 19. He dedicated his autobiography to Ms Bennett.

But he had struggled to quit his vices in his later years, according to the band’s manager Todd Singerman.

The news was originally broken by respected rock DJ Eddie Trunk via a series of posts on his Twitter account

Kilmister was also known for his extensive – and controversial – collection of Third Reich memorabilia.

He even had an Iron Cross encrusted on his bass, leading to accusations that he had Nazi sympathies.

But he maintained he ‘only collected the stuff. [he] didn’t collect the ideas.’

In one interview, he said: ‘By collecting Nazi memorabilia, it doesn’t mean I’m a fascist, or a skinhead. I just liked the clobber.

‘I’ve always liked a good uniform, and throughout history, it’s always been the bad guys who dressed the best: Napoleon, the Confederates, the Nazis.’

Ace in the pack: Kilmister, who was born in Stoke-on-Trent on Christmas Eve 1945, founded Motorhead in 1975 after being fired from previous band Hawkwind

The musician, who suffered from diabetes, had been plagued with health problems in recent times and the band were forced to postpone a string of shows earlier this year.

In an interview with Decibel magazine last year, Singerman revealed: ‘He’s been up and down — he’s got a really bad diabetic problem and it changes on a daily basis.

‘A lot of it is fighting the bad habits, the things he’s not supposed to do any more. He’s stopped smoking, but he probably sneaks Jack and Coke here and there — he’d be lying if he said he’d stopped.’

Hours before appearing at the Monsters of Rock Festival in Brazil in April, Kilmister was reportedly taken ill with gastric distress and dehydration.

And in 2013, the band were forced to postpone shows in Italy and Austria after the rock veteran suffered a haematoma.

In the same year he was fitted with a defibrillator to correct heart problems.

In a recent interview with German magazine Lust For Life, Kilmister said he had been ‘close to death’ during his last surgery.

‘It was the only moment I was stalked by the devil called doubt. I wondered if I’d make it. I’m not afraid of death – I often sing about it.

‘So I wasn’t shaking in my bed, but I did have the feeling I wasn’t done yet. I still wanted to do shows and make records. That feeling pulled me through all this.’

Motörhead were set to tour the UK in January in support of their 23rd album ‘Bad Magic’, which was released in August of this year.

In June, the band graced Glastonbury festival for the first time in their 40-year history, playing a triumphant afternoon set on the Pyramid Stage.

Motörhead are perhaps best known for their single Ace Of Spades, while the fanged face that appears on their album artwork has become one of rock’s most recognisable figures.

It took several years for the band to break into the popular charts, which came when they achieved critical acclaim with the 1980 Ace Of Spades album, which reached number four in the UK chart.

FROM STOKE-ON-TRENT TO HEAVY METAL STAR: THE RISE OF A ROCK ICON

Many a hell-raiser has boasted of a life filled with booze, sex and drugs, but very few have lived it with the conviction and defiance of Lemmy, Motörhead frontman, who has died aged 70.

Born in Stoke-on-Trent on Christmas Eve, Ian Kilmister committed himself to rock-and-roll after watching the Beatles at Liverpool’s Cavern Club as a teenager.

He worked as a roadie for Jimi Hendrix, played bass in space rock band Hawkwind – before being kicked out for his drug use – and founded Motörhead – all on a bottle of Jack Daniels a day.

He also boasted of sleeping with 1,000 women, built up an impressive – if controversial – collection of Third Reich memorabilia and entertained millions despite an ever-growing list of health problems.

The most recent diagnosis was on Boxing Day, when Lemmy was told he had an aggressive form of cancer. Just 48 hours later, the rock icon lost his life to the disease, surrounded by family at his Los Angeles home.

After his father left just three weeks after his birth, Kimister was brought up by his mother and grandmother. It was apparent from an early age he would not follow a conventional path in life.

In his autobiography, he wrote: ‘I had problems at school right from the start. The teachers and I didn’t see eye-to-eye: they wanted me to learn, and I didn’t want to…

‘I played truant constantly, and that was it from day one, really.’

He picked up his nickname aged 11, when he moved to Anglesey, north Wales, with his mother and her second husband.

After finishing school, and a brief stint working at a riding school, Lemmy worked at a washing machine factory.

He later Stockport in Manchester where he became involved in the local music scene, eventually joining a band called The Rockin’ Vickers.

He left the group in 1967 and moved to London in search of fame and fortune. He also spent seven months travelling with Jimi Hendrix as a roadie.

Five years later he became a bassist for Hawkwind.

In 1975 he formed Motorhead, but after two years of little recognition and living in squats, the group decided to split and played farewell show at the Marquee Club in London.

But a record producer at the gig offered the band some time in studio to record a single.

The group made the most of the opportunity, eventually recording 13 tracks that formed their first album. Called Motorhead, it reached number 43 in the UK charts.

The Grammy-award winning band took several years to break into popular consciousness.

But it all changed in 1980 with the release of their fourth album, Ace of Spades, which went on to become one of their biggest hits. Over the the next 30 years released a further 17 albums.